Modal and Impersonal Verbs

A modal verb is a helper verb that adds meaning to a second verb. In Spanish the modal is conjugated and the verb that follows it stays in the infinitive (the -ar/-er/-ir form). You never conjugate both.

The core modal verbs at GCSE are:

Modal	Meaning	Example	English
poder	can / to be able to	Puedo nadar.	I can swim.
deber	must / should	Debo estudiar.	I must study.
querer	to want	Quiero salir.	I want to go out.
tener que	to have to	Tengo que trabajar.	I have to work.
saber	to know how to	Sé cocinar.	I know how to cook.

The pattern is always conjugated modal + infinitive:

• ¿Puedes ayudarme? — Can you help me?
• Queremos viajar en verano. — We want to travel in summer.
• Sé conducir. — I know how to drive.

Only the modal changes to match the subject. The second verb stays as an infinitive: quiero comer, quieres comer, queremos comer.

Some of these modals are stem-changing or irregular, so check the forms carefully. Poder changes o→ue, querer changes e→ie, tener changes e→ie with an irregular yo form, and saber has an irregular yo form.

Person	poder (o→ue)	querer (e→ie)	tener (e→ie)	saber	deber
yo	puedo	quiero	tengo	sé	debo
tú	puedes	quieres	tienes	sabes	debes
él/ella/usted	puede	quiere	tiene	sabe	debe
nosotros	podemos	queremos	tenemos	sabemos	debemos
vosotros	podéis	queréis	tenéis	sabéis	debéis
ellos/ustedes	pueden	quieren	tienen	saben	deben

Note that with tener que, only tener is conjugated and que is fixed:

• Tengo que hacer los deberes. — I have to do my homework.
• Tienes que llegar a tiempo. — You have to arrive on time.
• Tenemos que estudiar más. — We have to study more.

Both express obligation, but with a slightly different feel, and both are followed by an infinitive.

• deber = should / ought to / must — often a moral or advisory obligation.
• tener que = to have to — a firmer, external obligation.

Spanish	English
Debes descansar más.	You should rest more.
Debemos reciclar.	We ought to recycle.
Tengo que ir al médico.	I have to go to the doctor.
Tienen que pagar la multa.	They have to pay the fine.

Both are useful for giving opinions and advice on topics like health and the environment, which appear across the AQA themes. Choose deber for advice (should) and tener que for a hard requirement (have to).

To ask for something politely or express a wish, use quisiera or me gustaría with an infinitive. Both mean I would like to and are more courteous than quiero.

Expression	Example	English
quisiera	Quisiera reservar una mesa.	I would like to book a table.
me gustaría	Me gustaría aprender español.	I would like to learn Spanish.

• Quisiera un billete de ida y vuelta. — I would like a return ticket.
• ¿Le gustaría algo de beber? — Would you like something to drink? (polite usted)

Quiero un café is fine, but quisiera un café or me gustaría un café sounds more polite — useful in role-plays at a café, shop or hotel.

An impersonal verb has no specific subject. It stays in the third person and does not change for a person.

hay means there is or there are — it never changes for singular or plural:

• Hay un problema. — There is a problem.
• Hay muchos turistas. — There are many tourists.
• No hay agua. — There is no water.

hay que + infinitive means one must / it is necessary to. It gives a general rule that applies to everyone, not to a named person:

• Hay que estudiar para aprobar. — One must study to pass.
• Hay que reciclar más. — We/People must recycle more.
• Hay que tener cuidado. — One must be careful.

The difference from tener que is the subject: hay que is general and impersonal; tener que points to a specific person (tengo que, tienes que).

Two more impersonal structures use se with a third-person verb to mean one can or one needs, again with no named subject:

• Se puede aparcar aquí. — You can park here. (parking is allowed)
• ¿Se puede fumar? — Is smoking allowed?
• Se necesita un billete. — A ticket is needed.
• Se necesita practicar mucho. — One needs to practise a lot.

Finally, many weather expressions are impersonal, using hace (from hacer) plus a noun. Hacer stays in the third person singular:

Spanish	English
Hace sol.	It is sunny.
Hace calor.	It is hot.
Hace frío.	It is cold.
Hace viento.	It is windy.
Hace buen tiempo.	The weather is good.
Hace mal tiempo.	The weather is bad.

Not every weather phrase uses hace — you also meet está nublado (it is cloudy), llueve (it rains) and nieva (it snows) — but the hace + noun pattern covers most of the common weather expressions on the spec vocabulary list.

1. Conjugating the second verb after a modal

Quiero salgo is wrong. The second verb stays an infinitive: quiero salir. Only the modal changes for the subject.

2. Forgetting the stem change in poder and querer

The yo forms are puedo and quiero, not podo or quero. These verbs change their stem (o→ue, e→ie) in most present-tense forms.

3. Dropping "que" from tener que

Tengo estudiar is incomplete. The obligation structure is tener que + infinitive: tengo que estudiar.

4. Making "hay" plural

Hay covers both there is and there are — there is no han form here. Write hay muchos coches, never han muchos coches.

5. Mixing up hay que and tener que

Hay que is impersonal (one must); tener que is personal (I/you have to). If you mean a specific person, use tengo que, tienes que, not hay que.